Thanksgiving week re-cap

Sunny: "Hey - did you hear that?"

It was a beautiful week weather-wise, and with C home from college for Thanksgiving break, I actually had company riding.  Tuesday evening we rode an 8 mile loop with Caspar and Buddy.  I'd intended to ride Rufus, but it was later than we'd planned to leave before she was ready.  Fading daylight meant a fast pace to finish before dark. I had the farrier pull Rufus's shoes for the winter already, and barefoot he gets sore feet too easily to make a quick loop something I wanted to do with him. so C volunteered Buddy.   We finished up just as the sun was setting, and by the time we turned them out it was black.

Wednesday afternoon I tacked up English at the farm, working on my homework with Sunny: collection and transitions, side-passing and bending.  He was the most responsive and willing he's been at home.  Since he was so good, I rewarded him by not making him work for quite as long.  Afterwards I bridled Thunder (no reins) and let him carry the bit while I lunged him. He wasn't thrilled about the bit, but did a lot of chewing which was good.  And he was light and responsive on the line.  Both directions at the walk and trot for about 20 minutes total.  Then I added reins and worked on getting him to drop his nose and give his face. Small steps. 

Thursday after I popped the turkey in the oven I collected the boys and spent a wonderful couple hours riding with C and J.  An absolutely beautiful day -  shirtsleeve temps, lots of sunshine, and just enough breeze to ruffle manes.  So different from last year, when I believe the high for the day was 16'. 

Friday C and I rode again - Rufus finally got his turn.  We started early enough to mosey, and keeping him on the shoulder where the footing was soft worked out well.  He's a kick to ride.  Ears pricked, stride long and forward... I could tell he was happy to be out.  He's very looky and much more the stereotypical Arab than Sunny.  Large rocks, clumps of differently colored grass and weeds, culverts, stumps... potential horse-eaters, all of them, but mostly he just eyes them suspiciously and keeps moving.  Although thanks to some gigantic squirrels (amazing how big dead leaves make them sound) and a few wild turkeys he and Caspar both took a couple of sideways bounces. 

Today, unfortunately, seasonal weather returned.  We have winds gusting to 50+ mph and temps in the 30's.  Not good riding weather, but given the rest of the week I can't complain.

Thanksgiving week

Well, looking at my track record this week, I can't say I've accomplished quite as much as I'd planned, but it's been a good week.

In order of completion:

1. Fruitcake! My father's one Christmas request every year. I bake it around Thanksgiving, and it ages for several weeks until completely "drunken" before it's ready for eating.
   
   
   Step 1 of fruitcake baking: soak all fruit thoroughly in secret ingredient at least overnight, if not longer.This much fruit makes a 2 batches - this year I did a dark, with coffee and blackberry jam, and a light with orange juice, mace and orange zest.
2. Worming horses: a solid dosing of Strongid to get rid of any nasty little parasites they might be harboring. Since T and I both had the afternoon completely free, it took only half an hour to weight tape and worm the lot of them. And had we been silly enough to allow only half an hour, it would have taken three!
3. Pies... This year we didn't travel for Thanksgiving - H had classes through Wednesday, and neither of us wanted to risk iffy weather and 25+ hours of driving for a four day trip - so we had friends over instead. This year's flavors? Traditional pumpkin, and H's favorite, lemon. I had to call my mom for both recipes, as she's usually the pie maker. Her pumpkin pie recipe is super easy to follow and turned out perfectly. The lemon (meringue-less and double the lemon, please!) was also a hit.
4. Crescent rolls - I love making bread, but probably shouldn't have added the whole wheat to this usually light & fluffy recipe. They're hearty, but substantial enough to have matched better with a thick potato or ham & bean soup. More notes in the cookbook for for next time.
5. Thursday was devoted to last minute cleaning, turkeys and various side dishes. We ate around 2 PM, and everyone rolled out around 9 PM, replete with turkey, pie and lots of good conversation. It was the first Thanksgiving we haven't traveled.
6. Black Friday - I've never done the mad shopping dash, and after Thursday's hosting, I was peopled out. T & H headed for Sioux Falls for basketball shoes and Christmas shopping. I curled up on the couch with a cat and a book.
7. The rest of the weekend? Laundry and all of the usual chores in preparation for Monday.